A/N: I'm just going along with this story and hope that you guys stick around to find out what happens. Please do let me know if I'm boring you all to death. This is a slight filler chapter.
The detective and I stood nose to nose for I don't know how long. Part of me wanted to slit her throat and feel her warm, sticky blood coating my hands but another part wanted to kiss the hate out of her.
Her brown-green eyes glowed and her look hardened, readying herself to fight. "If you two are done with your little quarrel, we have a lot of things to do for tonight." Puck says, pulling my shoulder away from the detective. Dani glared at me for a moment before stomping her way to the car; swinging the car door open so hard I thought it was going to fly off before slamming it shut. Puck and I followed her.
"Good call on the castle, Santana." Puck says, "she loves it. Sometimes she'd even ask Quinn if she could take her afternoon naps in there."
"You picked that out?" Dani asked, emphasizing the first word
I turned to look at her as Puck drove us home, "I happen to have been a little girl once upon a time, detective. I know that most girls want to be a princess."
A thoughtful frown erased the anger in her face, "what happens when they grow up?"
A bitter laugh escaped from my lips as I thought about my mother, Maribel, and my sisters, Serena and Bria and how much I wanted to be with them. "Then they just want to go back to being innocent little girls again."
As soon as we got back to the apartment, Puck headed for his laptop to check if there was new information about Captain Sandy Ryerson. Dani sat on the couch and turned the TV on. She didn't talk or look at me and I knew Puck was too engrossed in his emails to carry a proper conversation so I took a nap.
At around seven, I got up, took a shower and made sure everything I needed was on me. Knives, money, a phone. I wore tight black jeans, black long-sleeved shirt, black boots and a leather jacket. I tucked my knives in their usual spot before heading into the den.
Puck was on his computer but he managed to changed to his outfit for tonight. Black dress pants with creases as sharp as knives, a navy blue polo barely hiding the bulge of his chest and arm muscles, and a sleek white tie.
"Colorful outfit." He teased
"I imagine things getting messy later tonight and I'd rather not stain my other colorful clothes. Where's the detective?" Puck jerked his head towards the bathroom, "by the sound of it, she just finished showering. Probably getting dressed."
Hmm.
Danielle Lovato. Naked. Water dripping down her curvy body and over that milky skin.
I wasn't opposed to that image invading my mind. Despite our earlier confrontation, I still found the detective extremely sexy. If only she could lose the righteous attitude and the stick up her ass. Oh well, nobody's perfect.
I strolled into the kitchen and took a small tub of Yoplait Strawberry yogurt from my fridge. I was halfway done with the yogurt when the detective stepped out of the bathroom. She was wearing a pinstriped blazer over a white printed shirt, black jeans, and cream-colored booties.
Dani stared at me, her brown-green eyes locking onto my face. I locked eyes with her pushed my tongue out into the container and fished out the last of the yogurt from the narrow base of the container. I could almost see her expression go from confusion to desire to guilt.
Maybe I'd do something about that.
Puck boosted another car for tonight, a Ford Taurus. We went with the car with big trunk space for Hunter. We wouldn't want him to be uncomfortable, would we?
Sky Splits, of course, was located in Northtown. The building itself wasn't anything special—a large warehouse with an blank, office-like exterior. Drive by it during the day, and you'd think it was another anonymous call center staffed by corporate drones.
But at night, just like tonight, it was a different story. A large rune hung over the entrance—a heart with devil horns and a devil's tail. The neon sign flashed red, then white, then orange, highlighting the long line of people waiting behind a red velvet rope. Guys in suits, girls with barely any clothes on, and everyone else in between all eager to get inside, get drunk or high, and indulge in their most perverted fantasies.
The nightclub catered to a wealthy crowd, and luxury sedans and SUVs packed the parking lot in front of the building and the two on either side. Puck parks the car just under a large willow tree, the nearest cars to us were about 3 to 4 slots away. Perfect.
"So what's the plan?" Dani asks as we make our way to the front door.
"We wait for Hunter to show, see what he's up to and if anyone joins him. When he leaves, we grab him and take him back to his place for a little chat," I said. "A lot of things can happen from there depending on how cooperative he is."
"Are you going to kill him?" the detective asked in a flat voice.
I stop and stare at her "Are you seriously asking me that question? Of-fucking-course, I'm going to kill him. Hunter works for the Air elemental. Even I am playing by your damn rules, that means he's fair game."
The detective shook her head. "I can't let you do that, Santana, no matter how big of a slimeball he is. I'm a cop. That means something to me, even if it doesn't to you."
I shook my head at the detective. Her morals were going to get in the way the whole night unless I convinced her to ignore them—just this once. An idea came to me, one that turned my stomach, but it was something I had to do to get Dani to go along with us.
"Puck, do you still have that photo that was sent to you? The one of your brother?" I ask, turning towards the mohawked man.
He slowly nodded, confused as to what I was doing.
"Would you be a cupcake and show it Danielle, please?"
Puck swiped the screen on his phone and tapped a few buttons, he didn't look at the screen as he held the phone out to Dani, swiping his finger one last time to get to the appropriate picture.
She took the phone. Shock, disgust, horror, and anger flashed in her eyes. I let her take it all in until I saw the emotion I needed- sympathy.
"Take a good look, Detective. That's what those bastard did to my handler." I said in a soft voice. "And that Air elemental didn't stop when he was dead. She kept mutilating him. That's how I found him, lying in a pool of his own blood, his face and body almost unrecognizable. The smell was … indescribable. She would have done the same thing to you, if I hadn't intervened." the detective didn't respond. She just kept staring at the photo of Fletcher's body.
"Look..." I started, bending down to make her eyes connect with mine, "I agreed to your rules that I wouldn't kill anyone innocent and I won't. I'm no monster. Even when I do kill, it's fast and relatively painless. What they did to that man... That haunting imagine on that phone is an abomination. Hunter Clarington was there when they tortured Finn. He helped her do that to a person that I considered family. So yeah, I'm going to kill him and if you have a problem with that then you can walk away; right. Fucking. Now."
Dani ran her fingers through her hair, "Alright. You made your point, you can have Hunter Clarington and the others but the mole in the police department, he's mine." she says, handing the phone back to Puck.
"Understood."
The three of us made our way to the red velvet rope that hung just in front of a tall, muscular, blonde giant, "Just let me do all the talking and everything will go smooth."
We strolled past the long line of people and ignored the dirty looks from the people who've been waiting for hours. Knowing Puck does have it's advantages after all.
"Sam, my man, how's it going tonight?" Puck greets, holding out his hand for the 6-foot 8-inch tall giant whose lips were too big for his face. The giant tilted his head to the side, the devil heart rune peeking out from under his shirt.
"Nothing exciting's happened so far. Quinn did say you were going to come by tonight so I guess things are looking up." Sam says, flashing a knowing smile and did this little secret handshake with Puck- plucking the money from Puck's hand and slipping it into his pocket with one smooth motion. "Enjoy your night, ladies." the bouncer greets us. Dani and I nodded at him.
Puck slipped him another hundred, winking "Oh we plan to."
Just like that, Sam unhooked the velvet rope and stepped aside. We were in.
Unlike the outside of the building, the inside was alive and had a distinct personality. Sin. Crushed red velvet drapes covered the walls, the floor was an exquisite stained concrete in black, red and white, and the bar itself was an elaborate sheet of Ice. Intricate runes had been cut into the surface of the bar, mostly suns and stars—symbolizing life and joy. Behind it, an Asian man in a blue silk shirt mixed drinks. His eyes glowed blue-white in the semidarkness. The Ice elemental was responsible for tending bar and making sure his creation stayed in one piece until the end of the evening.
Men and women in revealing clothes roamed through the room, offering guests free champagne, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and fresh oysters. You had to pay for everything else on the menu, whether it was other food, drinks, sex, blood, or drugs. Most of the waitstaff here were vampires, all were hookers. Every single one wore a necklace with the devil heart rune dangling from it and a bright smile that hinted of the pleasures yet to come. All you had to do was ask- and be able to pay the price.
Some people were on the dance floor, bumping and grinding to the beat of the music while most huddled together in the booths kissing, fondling, moaning. In another part of the club, white spots flashed, red glows would fade in and out, and smoke curled up to the ceiling from a variety of illegal substances being used. Once or twice, I've seen the table jerk up as people fucked on the floor just under it. Every once in a while, a couple would head up the stairs at the back of the nightclub. The rooms upstairs were rented out by the half hour for those who wanted to be more comfortable doing the dirty.
At the back of the club, another bouncer stood in front of the velvet rope separating the private rooms. The three of us moved deeper into the club and I spot Quinn working the crowd.
The vampire was wearing a white suit jacket that hugged her curves beautifully, black pants and what seems to be nothing underneath; judging from the amount of cleavage peeking out of the deep V in front of the tux.
She roamed from table, to dance floor, to bar and back again. Shaking hands and chatting up her customers. More than one man and woman stopped Quinn to whisper something into her ear. I watched the vampire smile and shake her head, politely declining the invitation.
She wasn't on the menu since her hooking days were over. Oh, the joys of management.
Quinn pulls out her phone from the breast pocket of her suit and tapped in a message before slipping it back into it's place
"Quinn says that Hunter isn't here yet." Puck says over the loud music, showing the message on the phone.
"Keep her company while we wait, when she leads Hunter to his private room, call me."
He nods and is already on his way to Quinn
"Now what?" Dani asks from beside me,
"Let's grab a drink." I tell her, leading the detective back to the bar. Up close, the Ice sculpture was even more impressive. It was imbued with so much elemental magic that it cast off a faint blue glow as power trickled off the bartender, like water dripping from a faucet. He was holding on to just enough of his magic to keep the bar from melting and in one piece. His control was impressive and my own weaker Ice magic stirred in response.
The bartender placed napkins down in front of us. "What can I get you?"
"I'll have a Manhattan." I said
"Annoying Juice for me," Dani tells the bartender who quickly disappears behind the bar to work on our drinks.
"Oh, ew, that's the green disgusting thing, right?"
"It's not disgusting. It's delicious." She shrugs
The detective swiveled her seat around so she could look out into the nightclub. I propped my chin on my elbow and studied her. Blue hair, brown-green eyes, lean body.
Danielle Lovato might hate me, hate what I did, hated just how easy killing came to me but the I could tell she was attracted to me too. Wanted me like I wanted her. I'd seen it in her eyes that first night on the balcony at the opera house. And again earlier this evening when I'd been eating my yogurt.
I glanced at my watch. It wasn't even ten. We probably had a lot of time to kill before Hunter shows up and I had lots of ideas of how we could pass the time. The bartender set our drinks in front of us. I slid a fifty across the icy bar to him but a pale hand slammed down on it before it reached him.
"Fancy seeing you here." A woman says from beside me, her voice was soft and smug at the same time. I looked up and my eyes met with her cerulean blue orbs.
"I could say the same thing about you, Ms. Pierce." I smile at her, Dani turns at the sound of my voice, watching my interaction with the blonde.
"You make a hobby out of going to places like this? You know I can always treat you to a good show and you wouldn't even have to pay... with money." she asks with that panty-melting smile
"I'm just here here to find my friend."
"Oh really?" She grins and I take a sip of my whiskey "Really."
Brittany slips the fifty back into my pocket before pulling out a bill from her own pocket and handing it to the bartender, "keep the change, Mike. Oh and get me the usual." she says and by the look on the bartenders face, the bill Brittany handed to him must have been big. Probably a grand.
"Sure, Britt." The bartender says, heading to the back of the bar to retrieve whatever drink the blonde was talking about.
"Britt, huh? You come here so often that you're on a first name basis with the bartender?" I tease. I could feel the tension radiating off of Dani and I was going to use that to my advantage. I could tell the blonde wanted me, she didn't put out any effort to hide that.
"Mike and I went to the same dance school." Brittany tells me, "so who's this friend of yours?" she asks, glancing at Dani for the first time.
"His name's None-of-your-business." I tell her. She tried to suppress her giggling, but ended up bursting into loud light laughter.
"I like your attitude."
"I wish I could say the same for you Ms. Pierce." I tell her but the smile in her face didn't fade as I expected it to.
"You can call me Brittany. I don't really like being called Ms. Pierce outside of the office."
"Well, Brittany, I'm a little busy at the moment." I place a hand on Dani's arm, it stiffens but she doesn't jerk away. "Maybe you can find some other play thing for tonight, I'm sure Quinn has a variety of men on the menu." I tell her just as Mike sets the paper bag in front of the blonde
Brittany's eyes narrowed, looking at the hand that I had on the detectives arm, "I was here on business but I did get my fill for tonight and besides, men aren't really my type." she says and for some reason that bothered me.
Her sexual orientation was common knowledge but when she said that she's had her fill, I was tempted to ask with who so I can have a word with whoever it was but I realized how jealous and stupid I sounded. What was wrong with me? The blonde pulls out something from her pocket and hands it to me, "In case the detective blows it with you, here's my card. Feel free to call me anytime." she winks before grabbing the bag off the bar.
She leans in so our faces were inches away from each other, a glint ignited in her eyes, "You owe me your name, see you around." she whispers before pulling back and walking away.
Brittany Pierce walked with a confident bounce in her step with her head held high and this spark in her eyes, it was mesmerizing. Not to mention her ass.
Pierce was one of the city's wealthiest women. Mining, timber, metal manufacturing. She had her fingers in a lot of money-making pies. With her blonde hair, blue eyes, lean body and winning smile Brittany didn't have the deadly, in-your-face flash of Blaine Anderson. Still, I knew power when I saw it—elemental or otherwise and Brittany Pierce had plenty.
With a grumble, Dani tossed back her drink. I did the same. The cold liquor burned going down my throat, somehow transforming itself into sweet, comforting warmth when it hit my stomach.
I pushed my empty glass back across the bar and turned my attention to the detective.
Her jaw muscles flexed and relaxed and her eyes were filled with jealousy. Dani felt my gaze and saw the hunger shimmering there. An answering heat sparked in her golden gaze, even as she tried to smother it.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"You know why."
She turned and look at me with a confused look on her face, "I don't actually, so tell me."
"I could probably show you better than I could tell you."
I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers.
Nothing sweet or romantic about it but I enjoyed the feel of her lips against mine. She tasted of the mint and vodka- like the drink she had just downed. I flicked my tongue against her lips. Dani stiffened but didn't pull away, but she kept her mouth closed. Refusing my tongue entry into her mouth.
"Come on, detective," I murmured against her tight lips. "Everybody else here is doing it. Why shouldn't we join in the fun?"
"Do you really want me to answer that?" she growled.
"No," I replied.
I slid over onto her lap. Even though I'd given her no warning and very little effort to turn her on, Dani's hands flew to my ass, squeezing them deliciously. I kissed her again, lightly pressing my lips to her then shifted my legs so I was straddling her. I rocked forward, then pulled back, rubbing against her body, pressing my breasts to hers, exploring this attraction that simmered between us.
Dani's hands clenched into fists on either side of me. I rocked again and grinded my core on her thigh, I wasn't sure which one of us moaned but it kept me going.
"Dani." I purred against her ear. "You want me, too. I know it. After this is over, we'll go our separate ways. We've almost been killed to many times this week, why shouldn't we work off some of that stress and have a little fun in the meantime?"
The detective stared at me. Desire warmed her eyes, making them shine.
Still, she hesitated. I shifted my hips again, urging her on. The slight friction and feel of my core against her thigh pushed her over the edge. The detective let out a low growl, tangled her fingers in my hair, and pulled my lips down to hers.
There were no closed mouths this time. No light touches or hesitation. Our tongues thrashed against each other, driving deeper and deeper into each other's mouth. I splayed my hands on her chest, kneading her firm breasts, marveling at how stiff her nipples had become.
She pulled me closer. Her hands moved up to my breasts. I scraped my nails down her back.
After ten seconds, I was wet. After thirty, I ached for her. By the minute mark, I was ready to rip her jeans off but I wanted to be alone with Dani, wanted to forget about everything but her and how she made me feel.
"Upstairs," I whispered against his mouth. She knew about the rooms and knew what I was trying to say. More emotions flashed in her eyes. Desire. Guilt. Hesitation. Need.
Slowly, she nodded.
I grinned and leaned forward to kiss her again when I felt an odd, pulsing buzz on my leg. It took me a few second to realize that it was my cell phone vibrating.
Puck was calling, which meant that Hunter had arrived. Damn it. No matter how much I wanted Dani, no matter how much she wanted me, tracking Hunter came first. Finding out who his Air elemental boss was came first.
Avenging Finn came first.
I sighed. "Sorry, detective. Duty calls."
"I know," Dani said in a husky voice. "I can feel your phone vibrating against my thigh."
Our gazes locked. Desire still brightened the detective's eyes, along with something else—relief. I wondered at the emotion. Relief about what? That she wouldn't betray her dead partner by fucking me? That her morals would remain intact for another night?
I slid off the detective's lap, pulled the phone out of my jeans pocket, and flipped it open, "Hunter just walked in," Puck said as soon as I put the phone to my ear. "I gotta admit, I wasn't sure whether you were going to go with Pierce or the detective. Personally, I'd have chosen the blonde." I ignored Puck's comments and my gaze cut to the front of the club. It took me a few seconds to pick out Hunter from the rest of the crowd. But once I did, it was easy enough to track him. The vampire sported a black suit with wide, white pinstripes and white wingtips.
He also had two other accessories—a girl on either arm. A blonde and a redhead. The women sported the devil heart rune necklace of the club's workers.
Hunter headed straight for the giant manning the entrance to the private VIP rooms. He said something to the giant. After a moment, the taller man stepped aside, and Hunter and the girls entered the hallway.
"Where are you?" I asked Puck.
"Back past the VIP entrance in a booth with Quinn."
I spotted the two of them, as close together as Dani and I had been a minute ago. "Stay there. We'll come to you."
I snapped the phone shut and turned to the detective. "Let's go."
Once we reached Quinn and Puck, I noticed that one of the vampire's hands was hidden under the table, giving me the impression that she wasn't just stroking Puck's ego. At the sight of the detective, Quinn stood and smoothed her suit.
"Follow me." She says as she heads for the back door of the club, Dani followed close behind.
I turned to Puck,"Stay out here and keep an eye on things." I tell him, "Call me in case more of Hunter's friends arrive."
"Not a problem. I'm feeling a bit thirsty anyway." Puck winked, got to his feet, and wandered off toward the bar.
"This way." Quinn says as she leads us through a labyrinth of hallways and corners, the music from the bar getting fainter and fainter after every turn.
Quinn made several more turns. Each hallway was slightly narrower than the one before, until the final one we came to was just wide enough for one person to comfortably walk through. This passageway was constructed of dark paneling instead of velvet. A variety of narrow slits lined either side at eye level. Each one had a knob on the side so you could open and close it.
The pink-haired vampire stopped at the entrance to the hallway and fixed us with a flat stare. "Hunter's in the third room on the right. You've got thirty minutes before I send one of the bouncers to check on the girls. I want you both gone by then."
I gave her a curt not, she stared at me for a few seconds before turning around and walking back the way we came.
"C'mon," I said in a low voice. "Let's see what our friend is up to." Dani counted the doors, and we stopped in front of the appropriate opening. The detective looked at me. I nodded, and she grabbed the knob and slowly, quietly, slid the panel to one side. The peep-hole stretched out horizontally about two feet, but it was barely taller than an eye. There was enough room for both of us to stare inside.
Dani and I put our eyes close to the opening. The slit revealed a small room with a plush couch off to one side, along with a round table and a few chairs. The tops of several liquor bottles sat on a shelf just below us. A bar set against this wall hid the peephole.
My eyes landed on the figures on the couch, Hunter hadn't wasted any time. The blonde already had her head buried in the vampire's crotch. While the redhead sucked face with him. Smacking and sucking noises drifted out to us, along with a few moans from the ladies. The girls were pros. If I hadn't known better, I might have thought they were really enjoying themselves.
Dani shifted beside me, no doubt thinking about what had happened between us at the bar. A shame, really, that we'd been interrupted.
It took a whole two minutes for Hunter to start jerking his dick into the girl's mouth, "Swallow it all, my little cumslut." He growled, tangling his fingers in the girl's hair and pulling her head down, making her gag. Once he was done jerking, the blonde wiped off her mouth, crawled up, and started kissing Hunter's face.
"You're both really good sluts, you know exactly what daddy likes, don't you?" Hunter says as both women murmured nonsense about what a big, big man he was and how they only pretended with other guys, but with him, their pleasure was real. My lips twitched. Funniest damn thing I'd heard all night.
Hunter fondled the two girls for a moment longer, then spanked them both on the ass—hard—and zipped his pants up. "Get the fuck out of here," he said. "I've got company coming."
Company? That sounded promising.
Hunter slipped a couple of C-notes into the girls' panties, they thanked him before blowing him kisses and leaving the room. The vampire let out the sigh of a satisfied man, then got to his feet and hitched his pants back up into their proper position. I hoped the bastard had enjoyed that blow job. It was going to be the last one he ever got.
The vampire headed toward the wall where we were peering at him. For a moment, I thought perhaps the he had seen us spying on him but he reached for a bottle and poured some whiskey into a square glass. He was so close to us I could have stuck one of my knives through the peephole and given him a shave.
Hunter had just knocked back his first slug of whiskey, when the door on the far side of the room opened, and a man stepped inside. The vampire blocked my view, but I could still see the other guy was a giant, with thinning hair.
"About time you got here," Hunter said.
"Sorry," the giant replied. "Some of us have been busy cleaning up the boss' mess."
Dani immediately stiffened beside me. She knew who that voice belonged to- the police captain Sandy Ryerson.
"Would you like a drink, Sandy?" Hunter asked.
"Whiskey, and a whole fucking lot of it." The captain says and Hunter made a couple more drinks.
Ryerson took a seat on the single couch as the vampire handed him one of the glasses and set the bottle on the table. He knocked back the amber liquid like it was water and poured himself another. Took a lot to get a giant drunk. Dwarves too.
Humans and vamps were the only ones who couldn't hold their liquor.
"I told you on the phone, meeting was a bad idea," Ryerson muttered as he downed his second drink. "Everybody's up my ass about the Tanaka murder."
Hunter took a seat opposite the giant "And I told you she wanted an update."
Ryerson's pale eyes flicked toward the door. "She's not coming here, is she? Bad enough I risk being seen with you. If she's here too-"
"Quit being such a pussy, Ryerson." Hunter said. "This place is totally anonymous. Nobody gives a fuck in here as long as you don't skip out on your bill. As for the boss, she had other fish to flay tonight. So your skin will stay right where it is- for now."
The captain drew a white handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his suit and mopped his forehead with it. "I wish I'd never gotten involved in this fucking mess."
"You wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't raped all those ten-year-old girls on your daughter's soccer team," Hunter's tone was light, conversational, like he was talking about whether it might rain tomorrow.
Dani let out a low, guttural growl. The sound a wolf might make before it ripped out your throat. Her hands clenched into fists, and I heard her teeth grind together through her clenched jaw.
Sandy Ryerson the pedophile. Would have been easy for the Air elemental to get her hooks into him. All she'd need would be a picture, just one, and the police captain would have been hers.
"What about the assassin?" Hunter asked. "Anything on her?"
Ryerson snorted and poured himself a third drink. "Bitch is a fucking ghost. None of my sources know who she is or what she looks like. The reward that was put out caused hundreds of people to call in tips but none worth a damn. I think she's gone. Out of town and out of the picture."
Hunter digested the information. "What about the brother? The banker?"
Ryerson shrugged. "Noah Puckerman told his boss he was taking a vacation because he was so heartbroken over his brother's murder. I imagine he's on an island surrounded by pussy somewhere by now."
"What about Lovato? Has she been found yet?"
The captain mopped more sweat from his forehead. "No, I can't find the fucker anywhere. She wasn't stupid enough to go back to the house. She hasn't reported in for work, and none of his buddies have seen him. I'm pretty sure she's still here, hiding in some rundown building in Willowfield. Lovato doesn't have the resources to disappear like Puckerman does."
Hunter leaned forward and speared the giant with a hard, flat stare. "You need to find the detective. That bitch is a loose end that needs to be clipped off. The elemental wants you to find him. I showed you the picture of the man at the barbecue restaurant. You know what happens when she doesn't get her way."
Ryerson tossed back another drink. Some of the liquid courage must have finally kicked in because he glared back at the vampire. "I called her just like you wanted. If your boys had done their job and held on to him until she got there, we wouldn't be in this fucking mess. And ever if she did kill me, she'll kill you too, you know. As soon as she thinks she doesn't need you anymore. That bitch is insane. Does she really think nobody will notice what she's doing? All the men she's hired? The fact she's building her own crew to take on Blaine Anderson's organization? All the missing money from Blaine's companies?"
"Nobody noticed the embezzling or anything else, until Ken Tanaka started digging around," Hunter replied.
So that's what this was all about. The Air elemental had been stealing money from Nova Industries to try to take control of the city away from Blaine. To build a crew and fund a war against the Fire elemental. Ken Tanaka had known about her embezzling and was going to blow the whistle on her to the cops. That's why he had to die.
The Air elemental couldn't afford to let Blaine get wind of her plans, not before she was ready to make her move. But since killing Tanaka herself would have drawn Blaine's unwanted attention to Halo Industries, the Air elemental had hired me to take the fall—to come in and be the conveniently dead killer.
But Ryerson was right. Bitch really was crazy if she thought she could take control of the city away from Blaine. Because before the Air elemental could even get to him, she'd have to take out his pawns first. The lawyer, Sebastian Smythe, might not present much of a problem, although he had his own guards. But Blaine's giant enforcer, David Karofsky, he'd be a hard weed to mow down. And then there was Blaine himself.
The Air elemental most certainly had to be Kitty or Marley Wilde. Nobody else was high enough up in the company to manage something like this. Hunter was going to tell me later exactly which one of the sisters it was—no matter how bloody I had to get in the process.
Instead of arguing further with the giant, the vampire sat back in his seat. He ran his finger around the lip of his glass, then gave Ryerson a sly look. Considering something.
"Maybe you and I could come to an agreement," he said in a smooth tone. "Since you seem to be so tired of working for the elemental."
The captain eyed him. "I'm listening."
"We both agree it's only a matter of time before the elemental completely goes crazy," Hunter said. "Who's to say after that happens you and I can't pick up the pieces?"
"What exactly are you proposing?"
Hunter shrugged. "Nothing right now. Except you watch out for me, and I'll watch out for you until things settle down. After that, well, who knows."
"What about the elemental?" Fear crept back into the giant's voice. "If she even thinks we're plotting—"
"Don't worry about her." A smirk filled Hunter's blocky face. "I've got a little insurance policy in place to keep her in line."
Insurance policy? There was only one thing he could have that the elemental wanted— the flash drive with all of her dirty deeds on it. The vampire was going to be more useful than I'd anticipated.
The captain didn't respond to the other man's offer. But I could see the desperate hope in his eyes. The police captain would do anything to get out from under the elemental's thumb, even work with a hood like Hunter.
"Just think about it," Carlyle said. "But not too long."
He finished his drink and jerked his head toward the door. "Now leave. I've got other things to do tonight before I see the elemental again."
Ryerson didn't need to be told twice. The giant mopped a final bit of sweat from his forehead, got to his feet, and walked out the door. Hunter waited a few moments before putting the bottle of booze back in the bar and grabbing his jacket from the couch He was leaving too. Beside me, Dani pulled away from the peephole. I did the same and pulled the knob, covering the slit.
"That fucking bastard," the detective muttered in a low voice. "That fucking bastard set me up."
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